Colourful Steam Engine
The Hathorn Davey Triple Expansion engine above, can be seen at the London Museum of Water and Steam, which is in Green Dragon Lane, Brentford, just north-west of Kew Bridge.
It represents the most common type of pumping engine built for waterworks after about 1900. It is usually considered to be an intermediary stage in development between beam engines and internal combustion engines. The cylinders are inverted and placed in a line directly over the crankshaft in much the same way as a modern car engine.
The idea for using such engines in waterworks came from the United States in around 1880 and soon gained popularity. This one was built in Leeds in 1910 by Hathorn Davey & Co. and was previously in service in a pumping station at Newmarket in Suffolk. The engine was donated to the museum by the Anglian Water Authority.
The Triple drove its pumps from extensions to the piston rods - in this case four smaller rods can be seen on each cross-head driving down into the sump of the engine. Due to headroom restrictions, the pumps are no longer fitted to this engine.
The three cylinders are 12, 20 and 31 inches in diameter and have a stroke of 30 inches. The flywheels are 16 feet in diameter. Water output is 1,000 gallons a minute or 1.4 million gallons a day. The engine produces 180 hp at 32 rpm. It last worked in 1964, and was returned to steam in 1980.
The Kew Bridge Engines Trust and Water Supply Museum Limited, a registered charity, was formed in 1973 with three primary aims: a) to restore to steam the five historic beam engines at the former Grand Junction Water Works Company's Kew Bridge Pumping Station; b) add other important water pumping engines; c) establish a museum of London's water supply.
Now the London Museum of Water and Steam, it has restored four of the five Cornish steam pumping engines, the earliest dating back to 1820, which were built for the pumping station supplying water to West London until 1944. These colossal engines make up the largest single group of their type in the world. It has also collected and restored other types of water pumping machinery including steam and internal combustion engines and a waterwheel, and has built and now operates the waterworks steam railway, which demonstrates the important role railways played within the industry.
On most days, one or more of the 13 main engines are in steam, demonstrating how they once worked, although occasionally technical problems will mean steamless days.
Colourful Steam Engine
The Hathorn Davey Triple Expansion engine above, can be seen at the London Museum of Water and Steam, which is in Green Dragon Lane, Brentford, just north-west of Kew Bridge.
It represents the most common type of pumping engine built for waterworks after about 1900. It is usually considered to be an intermediary stage in development between beam engines and internal combustion engines. The cylinders are inverted and placed in a line directly over the crankshaft in much the same way as a modern car engine.
The idea for using such engines in waterworks came from the United States in around 1880 and soon gained popularity. This one was built in Leeds in 1910 by Hathorn Davey & Co. and was previously in service in a pumping station at Newmarket in Suffolk. The engine was donated to the museum by the Anglian Water Authority.
The Triple drove its pumps from extensions to the piston rods - in this case four smaller rods can be seen on each cross-head driving down into the sump of the engine. Due to headroom restrictions, the pumps are no longer fitted to this engine.
The three cylinders are 12, 20 and 31 inches in diameter and have a stroke of 30 inches. The flywheels are 16 feet in diameter. Water output is 1,000 gallons a minute or 1.4 million gallons a day. The engine produces 180 hp at 32 rpm. It last worked in 1964, and was returned to steam in 1980.
The Kew Bridge Engines Trust and Water Supply Museum Limited, a registered charity, was formed in 1973 with three primary aims: a) to restore to steam the five historic beam engines at the former Grand Junction Water Works Company's Kew Bridge Pumping Station; b) add other important water pumping engines; c) establish a museum of London's water supply.
Now the London Museum of Water and Steam, it has restored four of the five Cornish steam pumping engines, the earliest dating back to 1820, which were built for the pumping station supplying water to West London until 1944. These colossal engines make up the largest single group of their type in the world. It has also collected and restored other types of water pumping machinery including steam and internal combustion engines and a waterwheel, and has built and now operates the waterworks steam railway, which demonstrates the important role railways played within the industry.
On most days, one or more of the 13 main engines are in steam, demonstrating how they once worked, although occasionally technical problems will mean steamless days.